Celebrate June Dairy Month by learning about area agriculture

June is Dairy Month. This is a well-known fact to residents of the Dairy State. However, what else do you know about Wisconsin agriculture? Specifically, what do you know about the scope and impact of agriculture in our counties?

In a normal June, you could experience farm life and learn about agriculture by attending a Dairy Breakfast on the Farm. However, the 2020 events in Marinette and Oconto counties are postponed to 2021.

Instead, you may want to take a few minutes of your time to get to know our area’s agriculture by perusing one of a multitude of websites. You can find fun information, factual information and very detailed information, if you are interested. Here are some of your options:

• Wisconsindairy.org — The Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin website has all things dairy! From “Get to know our farms” segments to dairy industry-specific information for the entire state, spending some time on this website will help you and your family truly get to know a lot more about how the dairy industry operates in the Dairy State.

• https://go.wisc.edu/i0ja99 — County Agriculture Impacts site. This site has links to each county’s specific information, in the form of the Impacts brochures. They quickly review the economic impact of agriculture to and within a specific county, and a couple highlights of the industry therein. Please note that not all counties have completed brochures at this moment, but you can find Oconto, Marinette, Brown, Shawano and many others there.

• www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2017/ — The official Agriculture Census data website. An amazing array of information, and very specific information for every county in the nation. Click on the “By State and County” tab under “Find Current Data” and you can see very specific information for Marinette County, the county in Pennsylvania you drove through two years ago or anywhere else.

• https://marinette.extension.wisc.edu/agriculture-tidbits/ — Local information regarding current situations in agriculture, and the Farm Facts for Florence, Marinette and Oconto Counties factsheet, with very localized information in one easy-to-read sheet.

Farming is very important to every American’s way of life, as our nation’s agricultural productivity is part of what drives our economy and what keeps our food costs lower than nearly all others on Earth. These are just some of the sources of agriculture information. You can also learn about specific crops, specific breeds of cattle, emu production or any other agriculture issue by searching for breed or crop organization websites.

You can find an electronic copy of this article, with live links to referenced websites, on the Marinette County page of UW-Madison, Division of Extension, at https://marinette.extension.wisc.edu/. Contact Scott Reuss if you have any horticultural or agricultural questions.

Scott Reuss is the agriculture and horticulture agent for the University of Wisconsin Extension Marinette County. He can be reached at 715-732-7510 or scott.reuss@wisc.edu.